Im thinking about selling My 21ft Champion CC. I have decided I am way too rough on my boats and dont like fishing in fear of messing up my boat. Although I have not done anything to this boat, its just a matter of time. Does anyone have a review of the xpress bay boats. I fish for everything that swims so Im thinking aluminum might be a little less likely to get hurt.

rough ride, not as tough as you may think, i'd keep the champion

Keep the Champion!

You just need to go run into a stump to get you a good scuff mark and also bleed a fish out on the deck to get over that "I got to keep my boat pretty" thing you have going. Get out there and use your boat

Keep the champion for sure (very nice ride). Bring it to Lewisville and we'll go out and get it slimed and shad scales all over it, then you'll be all set.

Oh Ive gotten her dirty many times. I bought it in 06. Im just saying that it would be nice not to have to worry about bumping into stumps when Im on a new lake. I hate beating up a $40k boat.

Holzer, your boat looks pretty, why cant mine? Just kidding. I was also thinking that aluminum would be less maintenance. I have very little time to spend on the water, with two restaurants, a 21 month old, and another on the way. It would be nice to just be able to get off the lake go home and park the boat and be done. I feel guilty if I dont wash this boat after each trip. Maybe its me just being a poonany.

Look Britton.....no doubt that the Champ is a "prettier" boat than an Xpress and the ride is truthfully gonna be a little better in your rig. But as far as tough vs stumps....ha. Hands down give me the Xpress. I own a DC X21 and fish the North end of Ray Roberts ALL the time and i beat this boat against the stumps ALL the time not a single spiderweb yet. Need i mention i rarely move from one spot to the next at less than 60mph. And yes i have hit a good many stumps. One last fall actually got the whole boat out of the water. Xpress boats are not as pretty as most glass boats....but they make up for looks with ruggedness IMO. Oh and i am a good ol' Arkansas boy so Hot Springs got my patronism.

Ive got a 20ft sportfisher deck boat its had a 6in crack in it for 6 mo. auto bilge pump comes on about every 5 or 10 min. try that with a glass boat(stump on Aquilla got me) Im in it at least twice a week

There are two different XPress CC hulls. The X21B is shaped more like a bass boat. I forgot the other model number, but it is more of a flat bottomed boat. The flat bottomed looking boat resembles my first XPress, which was their 17' crappie boat. It would beat you to death. I sold that boat and bought my first of two Sea Pro CC's.

After taking care to two fiberglass Sea Pros in a row, I went back to an XPress and have been in the X21B for about three years now. It rides as good as the Sea Pro did, but not quite as dry if you hit waves at an angle. The dry storage boxes aren't that dry. However I still like this boat. Aluminum is just easier to keep.

I just sold my express HD18CC. I loved the boat as far as being maint. free. The reason I sold the boat was because of the ride. It would beat you to death if the wind was over 15mph. That was about the only thing I did not like about the boat. It would float in 6 inches of water with three 200lb.+ men in it fully loaded. I bought a ZX20 Skeeter bay boat and I love it as well. The ride is much better but on the down side, it is harder to keep looking good. One thing I highly advise when buying another boat is the fresh water washdown. I have it now and it is great. On the other hand, I looked at the express 22bay boat pretty hard. One of the main things that I did not like about it was there was no live well. All it had was two small fish boxes. You could not have put a limit of whites or crappie in there if you had too and the price was pretty high I thought-$39,000.00+

I will trade you my beat up BlueWave so don't feel so bad getting it dirty. I think your wanting a steel boat like they use on the rivers up north because of rocks.

Any boat is going to get dirty and dinged up...that stinking wind will blow you into something eventually!!!

I fish for everything out of my bay boat and most of the dings came from the metal docks that are unprotected or rocks when catching bait...nothing really from the stumps. Worst dings came from a tread separation that tore the fender off the trailer and hit the boat.

I used to keep mine spotless, but now I clean it maybe once every 4-6 weeks -- so I get about 8-10 trips before cleaning it. Biggest help is use the docks so mud does not get in the boat and use a rag or something to get a quick wipe to the blood and you would be surprised at how long it will look "good enough".

Congrats on the buisinesses and getting the family started!!!!

I love my little flatbottom express and WHO CARES if it gets dirty I wash it out 1 or two times a year and prolly make 40 to 50 trips a year... I would love to have the X-Bay but the price tag is a bit much...

Ha!

Trust me, I got my dings and scuffs.

If you ever ask me to go fishing with you..... I'll pass